Xutos & Pontapés perform on the 1st of May, at 10 pm, at the Festa das Cruzes and on the 2nd it is Ana Moura’s turn — revealed yesterday by the Barcelos City Council.
On the 3rd of May, still at 10pm, Fernando Daniel will perform and on the 4th of May, Quatro e Meia, according to the program released yesterday. Every day there will be a festive dawn, at 8:30 am, followed by performances by musical bands and folk groups.
Mário Constantino, president of the City Council, revealed that the municipality foresees an investment of “around 575 thousand euros” in the festivities this year.
The mayor highlighted that “our Festa das Cruzes can only have the dignity and fraternity that it has because we are joined by 89 parishes, dozens of folkloric groups and many other communities, commerce, restaurants and the entire population Barcelona”.
The mayor stressed that the festival, having its origins in a legend over 500 years old, “assumes a role in bringing together communities, as all social strata and all age groups participate in it”.
In the presentation of the program, Pedro Ferreira, the provider of the Real Irmandade do Senhor da Cruz, referred to the execution of the flower carpets, revealing that the central carpet will be in tribute to Aires Marques, a sacristan who promoted this tradition.
The side carpets will have as their motifs the 5th Eucharistic Congress, to be held in Braga and the motto of the Archdiocese, ‘Always on the Way’.
In turn, Prior Manuel Rocha, parish priest of Santa Maria Maior de Barcelos, suggested that the idea of wrapping the cross with a black cloth in the procession is being considered, in protest against the wars raging around the world, but the president of the City Council would, in its intervention, express opposition to this idea, considering that the cross is a sign of hope and preferring a positive message.
Jorge Cruz, the president of EMEC, the Municipal Education and Culture Company of Barcelos, who is responsible for operating functions such as surveillance, hygiene, cleaning and publicity services for the party, also spoke, and admitted that there were improvements to be made.
The program, in addition to the artists already mentioned, also includes actions such as, on the 1st of May from 10 am, the presence of the RTP program ‘Aqui Portugal’, and at 3 pm the battle of flowers.
The 2nd of May is dedicated to the Portuguese Way of Santiago, with a walk at 9 am on the section that passes through Barcelos, followed in the afternoon by the opening of two exhibitions.
May 3rd, on a municipal holiday, the highlights are the solemn mass and the procession, with the presence of the archbishop.
